To remove flux, various oils or water deposited on an object, 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane (hereinafter referred to as R113), which is nonflammable, low toxic and excellent in stability, or a mixed solvent composition consisting of R113 and a solvent miscible with R113 is widely used. Since R113 has such characteristics that it has little effect on a base material of an object such as a metal, a plastic or an elastomer and selectively dissolves various soils, it has been the most suitable for cleaning various precision machinery components, various electronic parts made of e.g. a metal, a plastic or an elastomer, a printed circuit board on which these electronic parts are mounted, or an optical device. In spite of various advantages of conventionally used R113, its production and consumption are regulated, because it has such a long life time in the troposphere by virtue of its extreme chemical stability that it can diffuse to the stratosphere, where it is decomposed by an ultraviolet ray, producing chlorine radicals and the chlorine radical causes a chain reaction with stratospheric ozone to deplete the ozone layer.
For this reason, alternative solvents to R113 which do not cause depletion of the ozone layer are widely being researched. As alternative solvents, 2,2-dichloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane, 1,1-dichloro-l-fluoroethane, 3,3-dichloro-1,1,1,2,2-pentafluoropropane and 1,3-dichloro-1,1,1,2,2,2,3-pentafluoropropane have been developed.
These alternative solvents have excellent cleaning property like R113 and a very little effect on the ozone layer. However, since these alternative solvents contain chlorine atoms, they somewhat affect the ozone layer though their influence is very slight. Accordingly, it has been desired to develop a more excellent alternative solvent which does not deplete the ozone layer at all.
The object of the present invention is to provide a novel azeotropic or azeotrope-like composition which satisfies the excellent properties of conventional R113 and can be used as an alternative solvent which does not affect the ozone layer at all and its use.